Navigation method, device and system for cross intersection

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a navigation method, device and system for a cross intersection. The method includes: receiving a message transmitted from a vehicle controller, where the message indicates a request of a vehicle for passing an intersection; and determining whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on an occupancy condition of the intersection and transmitting an action instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control movement of the vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A navigation method for a cross intersection, comprising:
 receiving, by an intersection controller configured to handle vehicle passage tasks for a plurality of intersections, a message transmitted from a vehicle controller; wherein the message indicates a request of a vehicle for passing through an intersection among the plurality of intersections, wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing through the intersection contains a predetermined moving direction of the vehicle and an identifier of the intersection for identifying the intersection among the plurality of intersections; 
 determining, by the intersection controller, the intersection based on the identifier of the intersection; 
 obtaining, by the intersection controller, an occupancy condition of the intersection based on an occupancy list of the intersection; 
 determining, by the intersection controller, whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection; and 
 transmitting, by the intersection controller, an action instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control movement of the vehicle; 
 wherein the method further comprises: 
 writing an identifier and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle into the occupancy list of the intersection, in response to determining to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection; and 
 removing the identifier and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle from the occupancy list of the intersection, in response to determining that the vehicle has passed and left the intersection. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein said determining whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection and transmitting the action instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the movement of the vehicle comprises:
 determining not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection when determining that the intersection is occupied and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle conflicts with the moving direction of the vehicle currently occupying the intersection, and transmitting a waiting instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the vehicle to wait for entering the intersection. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein:
 said determining that the intersection is not occupied comprises: determining that the intersection is not occupied when no vehicle is currently moving in the intersection and no vehicle is predetermined to enter the intersection; 
 said determining that the intersection is occupied comprises: determining that the intersection is occupied when there is a vehicle currently moving in the intersection and/or there is a vehicle predetermined to enter the intersection; and 
 the vehicle currently occupying the intersection comprises a vehicle currently moving in the intersection and/or a vehicle predetermined to enter the intersection. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein said determining whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection and transmitting the action instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the movement of the vehicle further comprises:
 determining not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection when determining that there are a predetermined number of vehicles currently occupying the intersection; and 
 transmitting the waiting instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the vehicle to wait for entering the intersection. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection further contains a type of the vehicle, and wherein said determining whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection and transmitting the action instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the movement of the vehicle further comprises:
 determining not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection when determining that the vehicle currently occupying the intersection belongs to a predetermined type, or that the intersection is occupied and the vehicle belongs to a predetermined type; and 
 transmitting the waiting instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the vehicle to wait for entering the intersection. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle conflicting with the moving direction of the vehicle currently occupying the intersection means that there will be a conflict point between the movement of the vehicle in its predetermined moving direction and the movement of the other vehicle currently occupying the intersection. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: receiving a message transmitted from the vehicle controller when the vehicle has passed and left the intersection; wherein the message indicates that the vehicle has passed the intersection. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection when determining that the intersection is under construction; and 
 transmitting a first notification message to the vehicle controller. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection, when determining that the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle violates a traffic rule for the intersection; and 
 transmitting a second notification message to the vehicle controller. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection contains attribute information of the vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises:
 determining, when receiving messages indicating respective requests of a plurality of vehicles for passing the intersection, a priority order based on the attribute information of each of the plurality of vehicles, as an order in which the plurality of vehicles are to pass the intersection. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 10 , wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection contains position information of the vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises:
 determining from the position information of the vehicle that a vehicle having a higher priority in the priority order and a vehicle having a lower priority in the priority order are in a same lane and the vehicle having the higher priority in the priority order has to enter the intersection after the vehicle having the lower priority in the priority order, ranking the vehicle having the lower priority in the priority order with a higher priority than the vehicle having the higher priority in the priority order. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 assigning, when determining that the vehicle has been waiting for entering the intersection for a time period longer than a predetermined time length, the vehicle with a higher priority in the priority order. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
 monitoring, by the intersection controller, an occupancy condition of each of a plurality of intersections. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 13 , wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection contains destination information of the vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises:
 planning a route for the vehicle based on the destination information of the vehicle and the occupancy condition of each of the plurality of intersections; and 
 transmitting the route to the vehicle controller. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection contains a predetermined moving direction of the vehicle, and wherein said determining whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection and transmitting the action instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the movement of the vehicle comprises:
 determining to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection when:
 determining that the intersection is not occupied, or 
 that the intersection is occupied but the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle does not conflict with a moving direction of a vehicle currently occupying the intersection; and 
 
 transmitting an allow-to-pass instruction to the vehicle controller to cause the vehicle controller to control the vehicle to enter and pass the intersection. 
 
     
     
       16. A navigation method for a cross intersection, comprising:
 transmitting, by a vehicle controller, to an intersection controller a message indicating a request of a vehicle for passing through an intersection among the plurality of intersections; 
 receiving, by a vehicle controller configured to handle vehicle passage tasks for a plurality of intersections, an action instruction transmitted from the intersection controller, when the intersection controller determines whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on an occupancy condition of the intersection; and 
 controlling movement of the vehicle based on the action instruction; 
 wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing through the intersection contains a predetermined moving direction of the vehicle and an identifier of the intersection for identifying the intersection among the plurality of intersections, and further wherein the intersection controller: determines the intersection based on the identifier of the intersection; obtains the occupancy condition of the intersection based on an occupancy list of the intersection; writes an identifier and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle into the occupancy list of the intersection, in response to determining to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection; and removes the identifier and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle from the occupancy list of the intersection, in response to determining that the vehicle has passed and left the intersection. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein said transmitting to the intersection controller the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection comprises:
 transmitting to the intersection controller the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection, when a distance between the vehicle and the intersection is smaller than or equal to a predetermined distance; or 
 transmitting to the intersection controller the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection upon detecting the intersection. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , wherein said transmitting to the intersection controller the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection when the distance between the vehicle and the intersection is smaller than or equal to the predetermined distance comprises:
 starting to transmit to the intersection controller the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection, when triggered by one or more triggers provided on two sides of a road at the predetermined distance from the intersection. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 16 , wherein
 said receiving the action instruction transmitted from the intersection controller when the intersection controller determines whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection comprises: 
 receiving an allow-to-pass instruction transmitted from the intersection controller, when the intersection controller determines that the intersection is not occupied, or the intersection is occupied but the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle does not conflict with a moving direction of a vehicle currently occupying the intersection, and to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection; or 
 receiving a waiting instruction transmitted from the intersection controller, when the intersection controller determines that the intersection is occupied and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle conflicts with the moving direction of the vehicle currently occupying the intersection, and not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection; and 
 wherein said controlling the movement of the vehicle based on the action instruction comprises: 
 controlling the vehicle to enter and pass the intersection based on the allow-to-pass instruction, or controlling the vehicle to wait for entering the intersection and continuing to transmit to the intersection controller a message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , wherein said receiving the action instruction transmitted from the intersection controller when the intersection controller determines whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection further comprises:
 receiving the waiting instruction transmitted from the intersection controller, when the intersection controller determines that there are a predetermined number of vehicles currently occupying the intersection and the vehicle is not allowed to pass the intersection. 
 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 19 , the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection further contains a type of the vehicle, and wherein said receiving the action instruction transmitted from the intersection controller when the intersection controller determines whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on the occupancy condition of the intersection further comprises:
 receiving the waiting instruction transmitted from the intersection controller, when the intersection controller determines that the vehicle currently occupying the intersection belongs to a predetermined type, or the intersection is occupied and the vehicle belongs to a predetermined type, and not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection. 
 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 transmitting, when the vehicle has passed and left the intersection, to the intersection controller a message indicating that the vehicle has passed the intersection. 
 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 22 , wherein said transmitting, when the vehicle has passed and left the intersection, to the intersection controller the message indicating that the vehicle has passed the intersection comprises:
 determining the vehicle has passed and left the intersection, after detecting a dedicated pile provided at a junction of the intersection and a road while the vehicle is moving toward a direction away from the intersection; and 
 transmitting to the intersection controller the message indicating that the vehicle has passed the intersection. 
 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 receiving a first notification message transmitted from the intersection controller, when the intersection controller determines that the intersection is under construction, not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection. 
 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 16 , further comprises:
 receiving a second notification message transmitted from the intersection controller, when the intersection controller determines that the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle violates a traffic rule for the intersection, and not to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection. 
 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection contains attribute information of the vehicle. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the intersection controller monitors an occupancy condition of each of a plurality of intersections, and further wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing the intersection contains destination information of the vehicle, and wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving a route planned for the vehicle from the intersection controller, wherein the route is planned by the intersection controller based on the destination information of the vehicle and the occupancy condition of each of the plurality of intersections. 
 
     
     
       28. A navigation system for a cross intersection, comprising a vehicle controller and an intersection controller, wherein
 the vehicle controller is configured to transmit to the intersection controller a message indicating a request of a vehicle for passing through an intersection, wherein the message indicating the request of the vehicle for passing through the intersection contains a predetermined moving direction of the vehicle and an identifier of the intersection for identifying the intersection among the plurality of intersections, 
 the intersection controller is configured to: handle vehicle passage tasks for a plurality of intersections; determine the intersection based on the identifier of the intersection; obtain an occupancy condition of the intersection based on an occupancy list of the intersection; determine whether to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection based on an occupancy condition of the intersection; and transmit an action instruction to the vehicle controller; 
 the vehicle controller is further configured to control movement of the vehicle based on the action instruction; and 
 the intersection controller is further configured to: write an identifier and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle into the occupancy list of the intersection, in response to determining to allow the vehicle to pass the intersection; and remove the identifier and the predetermined moving direction of the vehicle from the occupancy list of the intersection, in response to determining that the vehicle has passed and left the intersection.